


In Her Place

by PocketPrompto



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Sex, Jealousy, M/M, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Zelda dies after defeating Ganon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-26 05:21:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20924825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PocketPrompto/pseuds/PocketPrompto
Summary: Link mentions his dead girlfriend and Sidon deals with some internal demons





	In Her Place

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Wow, my first BotW fic! (Hopefully with more to come)  
This was just a little idea I've had bouncing around ye olde noggin ever since I finished the game and thought  
"Hm what if Zelda dies at the end" and how Link/Sidon would deal with that
> 
> Also, I made it Mature simply because there is one paragraph with some implied sex and I didn't know how else to tag it lmao
> 
> Not Beta'd, sorry for mistakessssssss

“Do you miss her?”

The rough cadence of Link’s voice makes Sidon’s gaze shift, from the sunset that’s casting the Zora Domain in gold, to the small Hylian who’s pressed up against his side. It takes him a moment or two to get over the shock of hearing Link speak, but he quickly lifts the awkward silence by clearing his throat.

“Hm? Who, my dear boy?”

Link’s eyes were glued to his lap, hands fiddling with each other.

Well, that was troubling.

Sidon has never known Link to be distant, to seem almost afraid. Bashful sometimes, yes, like when he showed Sidon his new Gerudo outfit for the first time (That image was permanently burned into his brain, Hylia bless him) but Link never backs down from a challenge. He’s taken on Divine Beasts all his own, for Hylia’s sake! 

Yet now, he was picking at the sword-worn calluses on his palm, refusing to look anywhere but down.

“Mipha,” he eventually blurts out.

Sidon blinks and sucks in a sharp breath. It never gets easier to hear her name. 

Sidon was practically a baby when she left, a young Zora still learning the proper way to swim up a waterfall without floundering, who knew nothing of giant beasts other than the fairy tales his dear sister would tell him before bed. He never would have thought that one of those very beasts would have taken Mipha from him so soon. 

He must have been taking too long to answer because Link starts to stutter, waving his small hands in front of him.

“Nev-Nevermind, I didn’t m-mean—“

“All the time,” Sidon answers, and he punctuates it with a gentle smile.

“I was very young when she was trapped inside Vah Ruta. I think you recall that,” He says and leans back on his hands, legs dangling off the edge of the hill they were perched on. Well, hill is putting it mildly. They were currently enjoying a sunset picnic at the top of Shatterback point, overlooking the lake Vah Ruta had been residing in. It was Link’s idea, unsurprisingly.

Sidon continues. “I mourned her when she didn’t return. Every day I’d come and stand down there by the dam and scream and stomp my feet, demanding Vah Ruta return my sister.”

He chuckles at the thought of how hot headed he used to be. Though, even as a child he knew Mipha was disapprove of his reaction. She had taught him better than that but when you’re young and still have so much to learn about how unfair life really is, things like manners sometimes blow out the window and anger swoops in, easily settling in its place.

Link finally looks up at him, cheeks tinged with pink with amusement at the idea of an angry Sidon. He lifts his hands to his chest and when Sidon acknowledges him, he signs.

_ “You? Really?” _

Sidon laughs louder now, giving a nod of his head. His headpiece jingles and Link’s eyes track the movement. Sidon smiles. He knows that Link’s always curious as to how it stays on his head without constantly falling or getting in his eyes. He’d have to explain that to him later.

“Believe it or not, love, I am capable of being mad. I’ve just learned to act on it more diplomatically since then. The Zora can’t really have a petulant prince, after all.”

Link giggles and the sound steals the air out of Sidon’s lungs. It’s almost as rare as his speaking voice and Sidon wants to play that sound on repeat for the rest of his days. The urge to lean down and kiss him is strong, but Sidon resists and instead he reaches down and cuppes Link’s face in his large hand, a thumb stroking pink cheekbones.

“What made you ask about Mipha?”

Link shifts a little uncomfortably and attempts to avert his gaze but Sidon tuts.

“Look at me, darling. Talk to me. Please.”

Sidon already has a feeling about where this conversation is going but he wants Link to be the one to bring it up. 

Link lets his eyes snap back to Sidon’s and after a moment’s breath he pulls back and brings his hands up again, signing to Sidon.

_ “I miss Zelda.” _

Sidon watches him for a few moments, a sad smile settling on his face and a sickly sludge settling in his heart. He despises being jealous. Despises the sort of vile creature he feels it turns him into. Because realistically, he adored the young Princess. He had applauded her tenacity. He had admired her bravery. He mourned her death too, with the rest of Hyrule, after Ganon had been defeated and Link stumbled through Hyrule Fields, broken and  _ alone _ . 

Sidon was the one who had put him back together.

Of course, he knew he wasn’t Link’s first choice. Sure, they had grown close after the first time the young Hylian had visited the domain and helped them to regain control of Vah Ruta. Link would travel back to the domain for supplies, even if it was out of his way, and he’d visit Mipha’s statue with Sidon every so often. But they never talked about her. Link seemed to understand enough that it was a sore subject. 

Instead, Link taught him sign language. And the two would share gossip or recipes. They’d go fishing and Sidon would disgust Link by grabbing them with his mouth, and Link would horrify Sidon by throwing a bomb in the river and the two would sit on the bank of the Zora River and clutch their sides and laugh at the silliness of it all and it was  _ good _ . 

But then, Link would mention the Princess, his duty, his  _ destiny  _ and Sidon would remember that Link was not his to fall for. Link was not  _ his  _ Hylian in the way that he was Zelda’s. So, he’d keep his heart at bay. He’d tell himself not to get too close because Link wasn’t  _ his _ , he belonged to the Princess. 

And then Zelda died. And Sidon stayed by Link’s side because he was his  _ dearest friend _ and that’s what friends do for each other. 

He held Link in his arms and soothed him, night after night, when the nightmares came. He kissed his scars after cleaning and debriding them, willing them to heal and fade so as to leave Link with one less reminder of the last year, and of the Princess he felt he had failed.

Sidon even whispered sweet phrases in Link’s ear as he fucked into him, when the stress got to be too much and the only thing that could stop the one scream that echoed in Link’s mind were his own screams as Sidon took him roughly in their bed. The burns left behind from the ropes that encircled his wrists and ankles, the teeth marks left behind from Sidon’s own mouth, and the finger shaped bruises that mottled Link’s hips for weeks to come were a welcome pain to the young soldier. Something else to focus on, other than the jagged, ugly, faded scars, reminders of his last battle with Ganon. 

And still, Sidon told himself that this was what  _ friends _ did. They took care of their friends, fucked them when they asked, left them alone when they didn’t, and that was that. Until it wasn’t.

Not quickly, and not all at once, the two found it was easy to slip into a relationship, something much more intimate, even after everything that had happened. Link had been staying in the Zora Domain more often, using their pools to heal his wounds and seeking Sidon’s company. Even still, there were days Sidon felt like Link’s consolation prize. 

It wasn’t until a year had passed since Ganon’s defeat and the two were walking along the mountainside pass to Vah Ruta’s ridge for their monthly offering, when Link stopped in his tracks. Sidon felt his hand being tugged back and when he looked over his shoulder at Link, the young Hylian lifted his hands to his chest and signed  _ I love you.  _ Only then, did Sidon feel that perhaps Link chose him after all. 

Sitting here now, another year later, another anniversary celebrated, listening to his lover talk about his dead girlfriend, Sidon can feel those ugly thoughts surging to the surface again. The “ _ you’re not good enough _ ”s and the “ _ he is only using you” _ s. But he shoves them down. And instead he leans forward to place a gentle kiss on Link’s forehead.

“It’s okay to miss her, my dear. She held your heart at one point. And she died for you,” he murmurs, keeping his hands on Link’s face and making sure he’s watching and listening. 

“It helps if you talk to them. At least, it helps me. That’s why I visit Mipha’s statue every night. To tell her about my day, and let her know I was thinking of her.”

Link’s eyes are wide and bright, soaking up every little thing Sidon has to say.

“Perhaps you could talk to the Princess. We could make a statue in her honor, here at the domain if you’d like.”

Link shakes his head and Sidon pulls away to allow him the room to sign.

“ _ She wouldn’t want a statue. She didn’t like the feeling of being put on a pedestal. It wasn’t her.” _

Sidon laughs and nods, an image of the fiery Princess still fresh in his mind.

“A picture, then? We can place it in one of the domains empty rooms, somewhere dedicated just for you and her. You can even put some of her things there as well. I suppose that sounds kind of like a shrine.” Sidon chuckles and nervously places a hand on his neck, stroking the smooth scales.

Link grins and animatedly signs.

“ _ No no! A picture sounds nice. Something simple. Maybe a diary too. So I can write to her, instead.” _

_ “ _ A diary is a wonderful idea, Link. I’ll make sure the room is a place only you and you alone can visit. Free from wandering eyes or nosy nellys.”

Link’s smile turns warm and he crawls forward to Sidon on his knees, straddling his waist and placing his hands on his shoulders. Like this, Link is eye level with Sidon and it makes what happens next that much more of a squeeze around Sidon’s heart.

“Thank you,” he says, all hoarse and confident. And Sidon smiles in return, a hand reaching up to snake around Link’s neck and tug him close, placing a firm kiss on his lips. 

Link giggles against him and Sidon wants to capture that noise in a bottle and wear it around his neck.

“You’re welcome, my dear heart,” Sidon replies against his mouth. 

They kiss for a few minutes more, before Link finally pulls back, cheeks flushed and lips slightly swollen.

“You...you could visit. Her, I mean. You can visit...her room too. And talk to her.”

Sidon smiles, and all of the feelings of jealousy and insecurity melt away, leaving just warmth and love in its wake. He knows, without a doubt, that he is Link’s, and Link is his.

“I’d like that,” Sidon smiles, and in that moment, he really, truly means that.


End file.
